MARCH 6, 2015 7:02 AM March 6, 2015 7:02 am
Pro-democracy marchers in Hong Kong displaying British colonial flags last month in the first major rally since the police cleared protesters from the streets in December.Credit Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A British parliamentary committee has warned that Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy is at risk and called on London to take a stronger stand on behalf of democratic change in its former colony.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons opened an inquiry into Hong Kong last July, three decades after Britain signed a Joint Declaration with China that promised the city — under the principle of “one country, two systems” — considerable autonomy and civil liberties for 50 years after its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
The report released on Friday said that Britain, as a signatory of the 1984 agreement, has a “legal right” and a “moral responsibility” to monitor political developments in Hong Kong. The committee also said that Britain “can and should take an unambiguous position on its expectations for constitutional reform,” a position Beijing has rejected as interference in China’s internal affairs. In November, the Chinese government barred members of the committee from traveling to Hong Kong.
Richard Ottaway, the committee’s chairman, said its members were concerned that Hong Kong’s autonomy was “coming under pressure,” and that a “troubling pattern has begun to emerge.”
According to the report, “The status quo is not sustainable in the long term and could soon threaten the open business climate and stability that underpins Hong Kong’s enviable prosperity and growth.”
For the past year, Hong Kong has been the site of vigorous debate over how its next leader, the chief executive, should be elected in 2017. In August, Beijing ruled that all qualified voters should be allowed for the first time to cast ballots for chief executive. However, candidates would be selected by a committee that is widely seen as dominated by pro-Beijing interests. That set off months of street protests known as Occupy Central or the Umbrella Movement.
The committee also said that Beijing’s framework for nominating candidates for Hong Kong’s next leader was “unduly restrictive.” But the Hong Kong government has said it is committed to following Beijing’s decision.
The British government is expected to respond to the committee’s report in two months. In January, Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire told the committee that Beijing’s approach could offer “genuine choice,” and that “it’s better than nothing.”
Mr. Swire also said that China’s president, Xi Jinping, would make a state visit to Britain this year. It would be the first visit by a Chinese leader since President Hu Jintao went to London in 2005.
Hong Kong’s legislature is scheduled to vote on Beijing’s election framework this summer, and opposition legislators have promised to vote against it, saying it fails to provide voters with a true choice of candidates. Leading democracy advocates have promised a new round of protests then to demand the rejection of what they call a “sham universal suffrage.”
